


Wing Commander: Deep Strike Part 1

by StrykerAFOC



Series: Wing Commander: Deep Strike [1]
Category: Wing Commander - All Media Types
Genre: Confeds, Gen, Kilrathi, Kilrathy Empire, Terrain Confederation, Wave Class escort carrier, Wing Commander - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7760851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrykerAFOC/pseuds/StrykerAFOC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After thirty years of constant war, the Terrain Confederation begins a campaign to cut the Kilrathi's supply lines, forcing their fleets to return to their bases to resupply, wasting valuable time and wear on their ships.  But striking behind their lines was deemed as suicidal as the Task Forces assigned could be cut off from escape.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wing Commander: Deep Strike Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Characters and names are fictional, any true names are coincidence.  
> 2\. Minor changes to technology (especially those not thought of back in the 1990s)

Deep Strike part I  
Retharla System  
March 22, 2668  
  
Thirty thousand kilometers away a Kilrathi convoy plowed along, headed for the asteroid belt, by now they had picked up the Confed’ Task Force. The asteroid belt was about twelve thousand kilometers wide, it had been heavily mined by the Kilrathi centuries before, stripped of all usable minerals, now they were deep in the system stripping the moons of anything they contained.  
  
Captain Blonski observed their movement on the holographic map at the rear of the bridge, he was a tall man, his dark brown hair kept in a crew cut to stay in regulations. ‘They’re running straight into them,’ he said to his first officer, Commander Rowle.  
  
‘Yes sir,’ Rowle replied, ’Colonel McKenzie planned for this when we moved in system loud and proud.’  
  
With the carrier was three destroyers and their flights of fighters, McKenzie was the wing commander of Task-Force Armstrong, all fighters and bombers were assigned to his command. Their mission was to conduct lightning strikes against Kilrathi supply lines. A dangerous assignment, since they were a minimum of five jumps behind enemy lines. McKenzie had planned and led the latest attack, they were laying in ambush in the asteroid belt.  
  
The plan entailed the attack wing to enter the system and hide in the belt ahead of the carrier and its escorts, and with the cats’ attention on the fleet they would spring the ambush. The main concerns was the wing would be in a vulnerable position if they were discovered.  
  
Blonski magnified the image of one of the two destroyers escorting the convoy, ‘I don’t recognize the design,’ he said turning around, ‘Sensors mark the destroyer and focus a detailed scan.’  
  
‘Intelligence will have a field day with this,’ Rowle said as the holographic image of the lead destroyer turned orange indicating the ongoing scan. ‘Convoy is approaching maximum strike range, sixty seconds.’  
  
The convoy continued on, they were within ten thousands klicks from the belt now. The distance counter reached zero, but there was no sign of McKenzie’s attack.  
  
‘What is he waiting for?’ Blonski asked out loud, ‘Helm plot an intercept on where the convoy will come out of the asteroid belt and engage engines at full.’ Task-Force Armstrong moved to intercept the convoy, the holographic display indicated the two Kilrathi destroyers were moving to front of the line. ‘They’re going to make us fight through them to get at the transports.’  
  
Minutes passed by, still no sign of McKenzie’s wing, did they get into trouble, were they destroyed? Blonski thought, fearing the worst.  
  
Rowle walked back from the sensor station, ‘Destroyers are clearing the belt, they seem to have better speed than the old Ralari class that usually escort. They are moving on an intercept course and slow us down, giving the convoy a chance to escapte.’  
  
‘Damn, they’ll definitely get away,’ Blonski turned and looked at the tactical station, Ms. Jansen order the alert fighters to launch and direct the destroyers to take up an arrowhead formation.’ Looking back at Rowle, ‘We’re going in.’  
  
The tactical officer acknowledged the orders and began relaying them to the other ships. The holographic representation of the fleet began to move, the destroyers taking up a triangle position in front of the Armstrong forming an arrow. As each ship got into position, their avatars turned from green to blue. New icons began to appear on the holo map, the ten Scimitar fighters, four from the Armstrong and two each from the destroyers had launched to provide fighter cover.  
  
Blonski picked up the handset from the cradle next to him on the holo table, ‘All stations, general quarters,’ looking at Rowle, ‘No turning back now my friend.’  
  
Rowle nodded and pulled up a status of the ship on his data-pad.  
  
The crew of the Armstrong prepped the ship for close engagement, locked down equipment, secured blast doors and donned life gear. Each station reported back to the tactical officer when they were complete and ready.  
  
At the holo-map Blonski watched as the range wined down as the two forces closed with each other. The Kilrathi convoy began to emerge from the belt headed in the opposite direction of the Task Force. Then they began to blink out and vanish from the holo map. ‘Sensors what happened to the convoy, are they hopping out?’  
  
‘Don’t know sir, they’re just disappearing,’ replied the sensors tech. ‘I’m trying to boost the sensors now to get a better reading, but the asteroids are interfering with the scan.’  
The convoy commander must be crazy to attempt a jump close to the asteroids thought Blonski.  
  
‘Sir take a look at the destroyers,’ Rowle said getting the Captains attention. The holo-map showed the two Kilrathi destroyers turning back to the convoy, they had seen same thing.  
  
Blonski could not believe the luck, the Kilrathi commander must not have much combat experience, ‘This is a chance, all ships to advance at full, I want those destroyers,’ he ordered.  
  
‘Captain!’ the sensors tech yelled, ‘multiple contacts emerging from the belt.  
  
‘It’s got to be McKenzie,’ Rowle stated. The holo-map zoomed in on the new signals, the asteroids were keeping them from getting a good read on who or what they were.  
  
I’m picking up Confed IFF signals coming out of the convoy’s last location,’ the sensors tech alerted.  
  
‘Sir,’ communications called out, ‘CAG on Charlie channel.’  
  
Blonski picked up the handset again and switched it over to the channel, ‘Mac you had me worried there.’  
  
‘Sorry about that, when their escorts decided to take the lead that left an opening I couldn’t resist.’ The voice from the other side replied. ‘Now that the convoy is taken care of, you want to join us in a little cleaning up?’  
  
‘You got it, we’ll hit them from the rear you pincer them from different angles.’  
  
‘My thoughts exactly, see you on the flip side,’ the link went dead.  
  
The holo-map showed the wing breaking into three groups, one swung out to the left, the second out to the right, and the third with all the bombers moved to engage the destroyers head on. The wing struck at the destroyers from different angles, confusing the Kilrathi crews, they fired at anything that moved not concentrating on a single target.  
  
The bombers, six broadswords took a lot of hits, their shields absorbing the energy. They were designed for that, they had to fly straight for way too long to get the frequencies of the enemy’s shields before launching their ordinance.  
  
Six torpedoes launched, one from each, but not all at once. They launched in pairs, speeding towards the destroyers, the first two struck the right destroyer, disabling the shields, the second pair, disabled the other ship’s, the final two targeting separate destroyers struck the forward hull. The explosions rippled through the forward part of the ships, the forward guns went silent.  
  
The right most broadsword took a hit to its left wing, it careened away from the bomber formation, one of the wildcat fighters followed it, the pilot frantically calling out to the bomber crew.  
  
The leading Kilrathi destroyer shook visibly, taking a hit from a pair of wildcats launching all their missiles, damaging the central engine. Lights from view ports flickered and went out, the weapons fire stopped immediately, the broadsword “Dark Vengeance” hit it with the last of its torpedoes, the resulting explosions ripple through the destroyer, killing it.  
  
The second Kilrathi destroyer began to break away and gain speed, it had surprisingly more speed than the older known designs.  
  
‘Blue Flight, close in and block their escape,’ McKenzie ordered over the net.  
  
‘Blue Flight copies,’ Major Holsiter , the flight leader responded, then switched to Blue’s tactical communications, ‘Eleven and Twelve pull in and use all your missiles, Ten with me down the center axis.’  
  
Blue Flight moved in, Nine and Ten dove down on the destroyer’s central axis, stitching it with laser fire, this maneuver drew the destroyer’s anti-fighter batteries at them, giving Eleven and Twelve time to circle around to the rear practically untouched.  
  
Blue Ten took a hit to the center mass, the fighter spun out of control away from the Kilrathi ship, Lieutenant Laski ejected from the helpless fighter, seconds later it exploded.  
  
‘Blue Ten is down,’ Holsiter yelled over the link, ‘he’s in an ejection pod, request SAR bird.’ Wildcats were equipped with a tractor device for picking up life-pods, but it would leave the retrieving ship vulnerable to attacks, in combat situations it was dictated to fly a cover pattern until a retrieval ship arrived.  
  
‘Hold tight Blue Ten,’ a new voice cut in, a new contact emerged from the asteroid belt, ‘I’m on my way.’ It was Sergeant Colson in one of the three SAR retrievers with the attack wing. It was an odd looking ship, it looked like a stunted flying cargo container, with over powered engines, but it had three tractor emitters and magnetic clamps. It could collect a life-pod a third of the time it took a fighter to do it, without slowing down.  
  
The second destroyer was bleeding atmosphere, Eleven and Twelve’s missile attacks had sent rippling secondary explosions on the port hull. It was still firing at the fighters and bombers swarming around.  
  
‘Attack wing,’ a new voice barked over the net, it was the tactical control officer onboard the Armstrong, ‘Break away from targets on my mark, now, now, now….mark.’ All the fighters and bombers quickly broke away from the Kilrathi ships.  
  
The destroyers from the task force closed in, firing their cannons and missile launchers. The Armstrong slowed to allow the escorts to do the heavy hitting, and to record all they could to pass onto Confed’ Intelligence. Scoring successive direct hits to the Kilrathi’s hull the three Confed’ Destroyers turned it into mini super-novas.  
  
Blonski turned to Rowle, ‘Alright, lets clean up and get the hell out of here.’  
  
‘Yes sir,’ Rowle replied, then turned to the bridge crew, ‘All stations prepare to break for the jump point, tactical how many attack craft have we lost?’  
  
‘One loss sir,’ Jansen replied back, but several heavily damaged, CAG is requesting two rescue shuttles to tow in a broadsword.’  
  
‘How about our escorts?’  
  
‘Minor damage, no shield failures.’  
  
‘Okay, thirty minutes, what can’t be salvage is left,’ Blonski said, ‘I don’t want to be here when a patrol comes looking.  
  
The attack wing began to land in their recover bays on their respective ships and quickly transferred to the hanger bay. Crew chiefs and their maintenance teams rushed out to lock them down and assist the pilot in disembarking.  
  
Colson landed on the Armstrong and lowered Laski’s life-pod to the deck allowing the medical team to reach him and check him over. Behind him came the wounded broadsword, guided in by two shuttles, it set down next to Laski, a second medical team moved in as the deck personnel locked it down there in the recovery bay to look it over.  
  
The recovery of the attack wing took less than twenty minutes, McKenzie checked over the data on his heads up display as he circled the carrier, everyone was tucked away on their ships, ‘Control, CAG all birds are in.’  
  
Blonski picked up the handset as he sat in the command chair on the bridge, ‘Copy CAG, come on home,’ he replied, ‘Helm, set course for the jump point, vector for coordinate set one, operations inform the escorts, let’s get out of here.’


End file.
